Tottenham’s manager Mauricio Pochettino thanks the visiting support after the final whistle at the Bernabéu.
Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters

It numbers among the many construction projects at Tottenham Hotspur but, perhaps, it is the one to have drifted under the radar. The London club have committed £30m to the building of a 45-bedroom player hotel on a site adjacent to their Enfield training ground and the rationale is illuminating.

Mauricio Pochettino and his staff are obsessed with marginal gains, with new angles and the creation of the optimum environment, and the private player accommodation lodge, as it is officially known, is another example of the growth that they are seeking.

When it is completed next spring the players will be able to stay there on their return, for example, from European away ties in the small hours of the morning, rather than have to drive home. They would then be on site and that bit fresher for training later in the day. It is a small detail but one Pochettino and the club believe can add value. Recovery after matches is a key area and good sleep is the No1 facilitator of it.

The lodge will feature a medical suite which includes hydrotherapy and rehabilitation facilities, and it will ooze five-star luxury. At the moment the players rest in the recreation room at the training centre in between double sessions. They will switch over to the lodge once it is ready.

Manchester City have something similar at their training ground and so, too, do Real Madrid – the club Spurs took on in Tuesday’s Champions League group game at the Bernabéu. The European champions represent the benchmark in so many areas and what thrilled Pochettino and the visiting support went some way beyond the point they gained from the 1-1 draw.

Their team needed to dig in defensively and there were at least two occasions when they could be grateful to Hugo Lloris. His second-half saves from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo were world-class.

There were long spells when Real, inspired by the peerless Luka Modric, moved the ball with pace and precision, and looked extremely easy on the eye. But it was no rearguard action from Spurs. They showed drive and composure in possession – nobody more so than the midfielder Harry Winks – and they asked questions of the Real defence. Pochettino was entitled to talk afterwards about a feeling of belonging at the highest level and it has to be noted that he was without a clutch of players, including Ben Davies, Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembélé and Dele Alli.

Pochettino showed new angles, new structures, new depth. He described his team as being under construction. This was an occasion to inspire stability and one that highlighted his own development, too. It is fiendishly difficult to second-guess Pochettino’s selections and he is absolutely delighted about that. The loss of key personnel did not restrict him. Paradoxically, it appeared to broaden his options.

“I knew you would be surprised about the starting XI,” said the beaming manager afterwards. “But it’s important to surprise our opponent, to be flexible, to have different ways to play. We can play three or four at the back, one or two strikers, two or three [central] midfielders.”

Tottenham have come to look stronger with a back three and it was no surprise when Pochettino fielded one against Real. But nobody expected to see Eric Dier – surely the symbol of his tactical flexibility – in the middle of it, while Jan Vertonghen accepted a new challenge at left wing-back. It was up front where the real shock lay. Fernando Llorente had started only once since his arrival on deadline day – against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup – and, in truth, his performances had been sluggish and ineffective. At the Bernabéu, alongside Harry Kane in a 3‑5‑2, he shone.

Pochettino judged that it would be his moment and he was right. Llorente had not been fully fit, having endured a truncated pre-season because of a fractured arm. Now, he looked to be up to speed. He occupied Raphaël Varane, allowing Kane to work against the slower Sergio Ramos, and he linked the play and helped to get Tottenham up the pitch.

Llorente ushered in Kane and Christian Eriksen for big chances in the closing stages and he ought to have had a penalty in the first half, when Casemiro bundled into him. Pochettino made a statement by starting with two strikers: he wanted to carry the fight to Real. He also knew that Llorente would bring his experience to the occasion; that the environment was right for him.

What about Winks? He is better known as a No8 but he played in the middle of the central midfield three, with Moussa Sissoko and Eriksen either side of him, which nominally made him the defensive midfielder. But he showed his adaptability, reading the game well and remaining on point with his passing. What a month it has been for the 21-year-old – he made his England debut against Lithuania on the Sunday before last.

When Pochettino introduced Danny Rose in an unfamiliar midfield role with 10 minutes to go, it appeared that he was hell-bent on showing off even more of the strings to his bow – and, possibly, was putting on a show for Real. The Argentinian has admitted in the past that he might like to manage them one day and Pochettino has loved being in the Madrid spotlight this week.

The bottom line is that he and Tottenham are finding new ways of doing things; different strategies to widen the scope of their approach. What stands out is the thoroughness. At the training centre, it is all straight lines and right angles whereas the player lodge will be crescent-shaped – in other words, softer and more likely to promote relaxation. Feng shui is not for everyone. Pochettino is open to anything that gives him an edge.